Movie Musicals of the 1950s - Casts
The early 1950s saw a continuation of the trend from the 1940s movie musicals of an emphasis on dancing, and Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire remained popular lead actors.
Several talented female musical performers made their debuts in musical movies of the 1950s. This was the decade that introduced the world to Leslie Caron, Debbie Reynolds and Shirley Jones.
The latter part of the 1950s began a trend in dubbing the singing voices for the stars of movie musicals. It was also the decade that spoofed this concept in the classic movie musical, "Singin' in the Rain." In most cases, the dubbing was for actors or actresses who could dance or act but who didn't have the best singing voices. In other movies, such as "The Pajama Game," you had Broadway or movie actors who could sing, but, unfortunately, were weak in acting talent. Several of the movies, such as "South Pacific" and "The Pajama Game," used stage performers, usually in supporting roles, who could act, sing and dance (for example, Ray Walston and Carol Haney).